This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
In the main event of UFC Phoenix, Yair Rodriguez took a big step forward with a stoppage victory over former two-division champion B.J. Penn. The following is a by-the-numbers recap that highlights the stats and milestones that stood out on the main card, with stats courtesy of FightMetric.com.
Yair Rodriguez knocks down B.J. Penn for the first time
The TUF Latin America winner had a career-making performance against the Hall of Famer. Rodriguez landed 55 significant strikes, while only absorbing four, and forced a stoppage in the second round. Rodriguez finished with a 1647 StrikeScore. The measure is a proprietary stat that gauges striking efficiency. To put that in perspective, the average winner in the UFC puts up just a 250. For his UFC career, Rodriguez has outlanded his opponents in terms of significant strikes 342 to 168.
Prior to Sunday night, Penn had never before been knocked down in a fight. He had also never landed fewer than the four significant strikes he connected in this bout. Since defeating Matt Hughes at UFC 123 in 2010, "The Prodigy" has been outlanded 141 to 486 in terms of significant strikes.
Joe Lauzon sways the judges against Marcin Held
This result was a tough decision to swallow. Per MMADecisions.com, this was only the 35th fight in UFC history in which the losing fighter received a 30-27 scorecard from the judges. Held finished with a slight edge on significant strikes (23 to 20), but he did his best work on the ground. Held went a perfect 5-for-5 on takedowns and passed guard four times on the ground. This forced Lauzon to mostly play defense, as he only landed five significant strikes over the final two rounds.
Ben Saunders stays at range to best Court McGee
In his previous fight, McGee managed to take home the decision despite being outstruck. The opposite was true in this fight. He finished with 54 significant strikes compared to 49 for Saunders. However, Saunders was the clear winner on the cards. McGee came out looking to throw leg kicks and managed to land 12 of 15 in the first round, but his volume dropped off significantly over the next two rounds. Saunders managed to keep the fight mostly on the feet and get the better of the exchanges at range.
Sergio Pettis uses volume striking to stay ahead of John Moraga
Pettis was able to outpoint Moraga over the course of three rounds. He landed more significant strikes than his opponent in all three rounds. Pettis achieved this by simply outworking Moraga. Over the course of the fight, he attempted 39 more significant strikes, which allowed him to outland Moraga 48 to 33. While Moraga came forward with hard strikes, Pettis moved and countered with volume.
